Shadowdark Setting Looks Set To Be 2025's First Million Dollar TTRPG Crowdfunder

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Just launched today, the new Western Reaches setting for the Arcane Library's popular Shadowdark roleplaying game (which itself raised $1.3M in 2023) has flown past half a million dollars in the first few hours, and looks certain to join the Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarter Club imminently!

[[Edit/Update--and it's done it! $1M less than 12 hours into the Kickstarter campaign!]]

2025 has been quiet so far this year on the million-dollar crowdfunding front. This new setting is a sandbox environment with new classes and ancestries, and various areas such as the Gloaming Forest, Djurum Desert, and Myre Swamp. It comes in two 200-page digest-sized hardcovers. Also included are new issues of the game's Cursed Scroll zine. The full core set will cost you $129, or $149 for a premium version, with fulfillment expected in December 2025.

At $670K at the time of writing, just 3 hours into the campaign, The Western Reaches is already the 7th most first-day funded TTRPG ever, having just passed 2024's Terry Pratchett's Discworld RPG: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork. It looks set to pass 6th place very soon, which is 2023's Ryoko's Guide to the Yokai Realms - A 5e Tome. Only five TTRPG crowdfunders (so far!) have ever hit the million-dollar mark on the first day. You can see the full ranking at the Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarter Club.

The Western Reaches are an unexplored land of fragile civilizations, majestic landscapes, and forgotten horrors that lurk in the dark.

In the Reaches, you could play as:

• A painted witch from the steppes hunting for the secrets to deeper magic
• An armored knight from the City of Masks guarding frontier villages from attack
• A silent monk from the mountains searching for the assassin who killed his teacher
• A scarred pit fighter from the desert looking to make her fortune outside the arena
• A quick-witted explorer from the jungle who can find any artifact for the right price
• A seafaring warrior from the northern isles who fights for the glory of the Old Gods

This sandbox setting is fast, elegant, and flexible in the signature Shadowdark style. You don't have to memorize lore; you'll discover it as you go. The world moves and grows with you as you explore it.

 

[mamba]

My take away was that it was overly simplistic to the point of just not giving players very many options, plus I wasn't running a dungeon crawl, and it seems kind of specifically tailored around dungeon play.

classes are pretty simplistic, whether this is a good thing or not is up to you. It is not specifically tailored for dungeon crawls though, this Kickstarter is a hexcrawl campaign for example.

I also could never force my players into getting random benefits at level-up. They would absolutely hate me for that. So, what am I missing here?

The fact that tastes differ and not everything is for everyone?

 

[Nightfly]

I certainly love seeing 3rd party publishers do well, but am I alone in wondering what all the fuss is about with Shadowdark? I looked at it a while back when I was looking for an alternative RPG for a Ravenloft campaign I was going to run, and all the SD fanboys couldn't resist fawning over it. My take away was that it was overly simplistic to the point of just not giving players very many options, plus I wasn't running a dungeon crawl, and it seems kind of specifically tailored around dungeon play. I also could never force my players into getting random benefits at level-up. They would absolutely hate me for that. So, what am I missing here? Is it just quite simply - simplicity and speed over options and variety?

Shadowdark embraces a certain style of play. 3d6 down the line, the way we did it back in the day. Your stats determine your character concept, not the other way around. Dungeons are deadly and combat is deadlier. Your character is fairly likely to die, but rolling up a new one is super quick. Getting your character to higher levels is genuinely an accomplishment.

That kind of game might not be for everyone, which is fine. But it's the way D&D was originally played, and many people still prefer that style. And even players who love complex, modern rulesets like Pathfinder often find that playstyle a refreshing change of pace. Shadowdark manifests that school of play very well without any of the clumsy, nonsensical rules of that era.

As far as "not giving players many options", the Old School Renaissance says that more character abilities end up giving you less flexibility, not more. When the answer isn't on your character sheet, you're limited only by your imagination.

 

[TiQuinn]

I guess the question is, is it kick down doors and kill shiz?
Or in this case move to hex and kill shiz?

No, not necessarily.

 

[el-remmen]

I jumped onboard.

 

[Bill Zebub]

I certainly love seeing 3rd party publishers do well, but am I alone in wondering what all the fuss is about with Shadowdark? I looked at it a while back when I was looking for an alternative RPG for a Ravenloft campaign I was going to run, and all the SD fanboys...

Stopped reading right there. Seems like you've made up your mind already.

 

[Bill Zebub]

So I made some adjustments (snip) but also being very liberal with letting the players attempt interesting stunts and hijinks.

I don't think that's an adjustment. That's part of the game.

 

[pete284]

I backed the original KS at digital level. Since running a game in Foundry which has great support I have wanted a physical copy of the core book but shipping to UK doubled the price. This KS is very UK and Canada shipping friendly so backed this.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Definitely curious about this, despite having never played or read any of the Shadowdark stuff before.

 

[aiouh]

Ease of running via digest-formatted rules (...)

Honestly SD would be much easier to run if it was Legal/A4 sized, just because the pages are smaller doesn't mean the system has less words

 

[zottel]

Honestly SD would be much easier to run if it was Legal/A4 sized, just because the pages are smaller doesn't mean the system has less words

I very much prefer the A5 format, everything important fits in the spreads and is easy to see. Preferences vary, of course, but I think it allows for easy and quick digestion of the necessary information without overload with stuff I do not need right now.